Hebrews 13:15
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Lifting up your hands and thanking God is spontaneous and easy when you have just received a wonderful blessing: “God, I can’t thank You enough for this miracle!”

But there are times when you don’t feel like lifting up your hands to thank and praise God, yet you do it. Perhaps you feel very discouraged lately. Perhaps everything is going wrong for you and you feel like your life is in a mess. You can’t hold back the tears. Yet, you make a conscious decision to lift your hands and thank God for being in the situation with you. You open your mouth and begin to praise Him even though you really don’t feel like doing it.

 Today's devotion reminded me again that I shud not hold back my thanks giving to Him. I'm feeling down and stressed about what'd just happened in my work place. I've too take up additional 2 more person's job! 

In the midst of the just thinking the about work is already tiring. I really need to re-charge. Today God reminded me that I can do that simply by just offering Him my sacrifice of praise! 

I praise you Abba, I thank you that Jesus is my source and strength. I thank you and praise You for You are worthy to be praise all the time! You are by good Abba all the time! And I know I'm delivered from all the stress around me. Jesus - my Prince of Peace will arise in me.

 And when you choose to thank Him for His unfailing love, and His faithfulness to deliver, protect and provide for you even when you don’t see the blessings yet, before long, you will find yourself experiencing and enjoying the blessings! So lift your hands and praise the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever! (Psalm 106:1)

 my devotional source: NCC

 

 

 

 

Romans 4:13
For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

God promised that you would be the heir of the world. It is the same promise that He made to Abraham. And because you are Christ’s, you are Abraham’s seed and an heir "according to the promise". (Galatians 3:29)

When God made this promise to you, He made it so easy for you to receive through the righteousness of faith. All you have to do is believe that as the heir of the world every blessing is righteously yours because Jesus died to give them to you. He also rose from the dead to enforce them in your life.

So don’t try to earn your blessings "through the law" through your efforts or performance. Freely receive what God freely gives to you through Christ and His finished work at the cross.

When a church member was retrenched at 41 years of age, he refused to fret or think that he had to jostle with the rest of the people in the job market. Instead, he believed that by God’s grace, he would get a better job with a higher pay. Indeed, through a mutual acquaintance, a new job came along with a pay packet that was 60 per cent more than his previous one!

Another man was experiencing a strained relationship with his wife to the point that divorce was imminent. When he started attending our church, he realized that a happy marriage could be his, not by his trying to keep the marriage going or earning the love of his wife, but by believing that although he could see his own weaknesses, he was still the righteousness of God in Christ because of the blood of Jesus. Today, he and his wife are reconciled, and enjoying a blessed marriage.

Don’t let the devil disqualify you by bringing you the law and saying, "How can you receive this blessing when just last night, you broke God’s law?"or "Are you sure you deserve this?" Instead, say, "Father, I thank You that I receive everything freely by Your grace, Your unmerited favor in my life, because of the blood of Jesus!"

 Source: NCC

 Leviticus 2:1

1‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour...

I love the symbolism of Jesus as fine flour. Fine, even flour comes from wheat that has been pounded and beaten again and again, and sifted several times. Doesn’t that remind you of Jesus’ sufferings and sacrifice for you?

And like fine flour, there is nothing coarse about the person of Jesus. Everything about Him is in even proportions. Every word that He spoke when He was in this world, every thought of His, every action of His, was so fine! When He was kind, He was not soft. When He was assertive, He was not overbearing. He is steel and velvet, meekness and majesty. Like a perfect diamond, every which way you turn Him, you see flawlessness, beauty and brilliance. There is no one altogether lovely like Jesus!

What about Bible greats like Moses and Abraham, or Peter, John and Paul?

Moses, whom the Bible says was more humble than any man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3), was once so furious with his people that he struck a rock twice, something he was not supposed to do. (Numbers 20:1–12) His temper got the better of him on that occasion.

Abraham, whom Christians regard as a man of faith (Hebrews 11:8–10), lied about his wife being his sister when a king coveted her. He endangered her life just to save his own skin. (Genesis 20:1–18)

Peter, who was deeply zealous for Jesus, denied Him three times. (Matthew 26:33–34) John, the beloved disciple who leaned on Jesus’ bosom, was all ready to call down fire from heaven to destroy the inhabitants of Samaria who had rejected Jesus. (Luke 9:52–54)

What about Paul, the apostle of grace, who blazed the missionary trail which future missionaries would follow? Even Paul went to Jerusalem when he was told not to by the Holy Spirit through some disciples and the prophet Agabus. (Acts 21:4, 10–11)

Beloved, the best of us can miss the mark. The only one who is faultless, flawless and altogether lovely is Jesus. And because He never misses the mark, you can look to Him. He will never disappoint you!

Source: NCC

1 John 4:10
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

      "You have to love God more! You must have more passion for God!” You have probably heard this type of preaching and may have even tried your best to love God, only to fail miserably.

But what is the true definition of love? Let the Bible define it for us: “… this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us…” Yes, it is not about our love for Him, but His love for us!

“Pastor Prince, the Bible says that you must love God with all your heart, soul and strength!”

Yes, that is true according to the law (Deuteronomy 6:5), and even Jesus taught that as the great commandment when He walked on earth. (Matthew 22:37) But that was before He died on the cross. At the cross, He became the very fulfillment of this law for us when He loved us with all His heart, soul and strength, by laying down His body and life on the cross for us.

Today, we are no longer under the law but under grace. And grace tells us that God loves us, not that we love God. Yet, we will love Him when we see how much He loves us. The Bible says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! (Romans 5:8) That’s how much He loves us!

Beloved, God has seen you trying your best to love Him. And because He loves you, He wants you to sit down and be still, and let Him love you instead. He wants to love you with all that He is and all that He has. He loves you unconditionally regardless of who you are or what you have done because His love is not dependent on you but on Himself. He will never stop loving you.

So let God love you today. Don’t worry about loving Him. The more of His love you receive, the more you will fall in love with Him!

source: NCC

Your faithfulness never fails,
Your faithfulness everyday,
You're the same.

Unfailing love sets me free,
Unfailing love you lead me,
With your hand.

Song by Planetshakers "Worship You alone"

A beautiful song as it describes the very nature of our Heavenly Father's love and though many times we are faithless, He remain forever faithful to be our loving Father. This truth sets me free from all fears -man!

 

"God helps those who help themselves", I believe many of us heard this quotation many time before, or even use it to encourage someone.

I use this many times in my life too, and thought that I'm saying something that's right. Do you know where's this quote found in our Holy Bible? Well , if you can find it, let me know I'll get you a new bible, cause you must have been reading from a wrong bible. No, this quoate can not be found in our Holy Bible, becuase it is not from our Papa God.

This quoatation is actually from Benjamin Franklin who's a deist (someone do not accept the belief of most religions that God revealed himself to humanity through the writings of the Bible).

Many times we want to help ourselves, we say things like "How can God help you if you don't do anything?", now I know, the more I do the more mess up I'll be in the problem. If we can help ourselves why then Jesus has to come, suffer and die for us?

How then should we response in times of trouble and tribulation? Well, let's look at Abraham and Sarai's life, God did promised that He'll make Abraham's descendants to be countless like the stars and sands. But after around 10 years of waiting, they still don't have any child. Sarai then took action into her own hands, as if she's saying "Well, we need to do something here, God's going to bless us with a child but we have to do something, since I can't have it but my maid can". We all know what's that something turn out to be. Sarai ask Abraham to sleep with the maid(Hagar) and bore a son named Ishmael. Though this not culturally wrong that their time, but do you think that's what God's plan for them when God said He's going to bless Abraham with descendants?

No, of cause not. As we read the bible, God was not please at all. In Genesis 22:12, when God ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, this is what God said to Abraham,

“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” - Gen 22:12 .

But we know Abraham has 2 sons by then, Ishmael and Isaac. From here, we can see that God is not please with how they helped themselve to get Ishmael.

Do you feel that we needed to do something when we are in trouble? Recently a very dear brother of mine was faced with a big problem in life until a point that he just gave up because there's simply nothing he can do to get himself out of the problem. Do you know that's the time we'll see God's Mighty Hands moving? Is when we try to do something, is when we try to 'help God' and that's when we are actually stop allowing God's help. That's a form of insecurity of God's love and care for us. That's what the enemy what's us to do as well, go help yourself, "Go turn the stone to bread...if you are really God's son"

In constrast to Sarai, let's look at the life of David, there're a period of time where he was being after by King Saul, David was in big trouble and greatly distressed. But look at how David responded,

"..But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God" - 1 Sam 30:6.

How then did David find strength in the Lord? Look at all the Psalms David wrote, In Psalm 56, David put his trust in the Lord, Psalms 59 David was determined to continue praising God for His help.

Even so today, God wants us to put our trust in Him (1 Pet 5:6-7), it's not "God help those who can help themselves" but rather:

God helps those who "...trust in the Lord with all their heart, and lean not on their own understanding" - Prov 3:5-6

It's an important lesson I've learned from Sarai, David and my dear brother, the 3 of them when through a very tough period in their life. It is not the problems/trails that make us strong, but our responses in those trials and problems.

The enemy wants us to respond by asking, “Where is God?” or "Do think God will save you?" But God wants us to respond with faith in His love for us. We are more than conquerors not because of our love for Him, but through Him who loves us. (Romans 8:37)

Before God bless Sarah with Isaac, this is what was written,

"Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” - Gen 18:14

the time of life - the word life in hebrew is 'chay' means alive and active living. It's like God is saying, "the blessing will come when you, Sarah is having the time of your life! When you are not worrisome and just rejoice in the Lord".

Do you see that God is telling us, "Hey, rejoice and rest in Me. My blessing will just over flow all your problems."

Now I'm reminding myself that I need to walk depending on my Papa God, not myself. Let my Papa help me, and all I do is find Rest in Him, and Rest on the finish work of Jesus Christ. We can't rejoice if we are not restful.

So just continue to sing of His love because He has overcomed the world for us!